“In Venice, a city famous for being visited by too many and home to too few, … [locals] hope the crisis has also provided an opportunity to reimagine one of the world’s most fragile cities, creating a more sustainable tourism industry and attracting more full-time residents. – AP
Tag: 05.16.20
Los Angeles City Council Moves To Help Artists And Arts Organizations With Emergency Grants
The grants, which are also available for live performance spaces, “will take arts fees paid by developers in support of now-canceled or planned cultural events and instead make the money available as small-dollar grants.” One city councillor said, “Whether a poet, a painter or a dancer, Los Angeles needs its artists right now … and artists need our help.” – Los Angeles Times
Historically There Have Been Very Few Polymaths
Goethe genuinely advanced fields of scientific inquiry such as geology and colour theory; Nabokov is always said to have been an eminent entomologist. Leonardo da Vinci, naturally, is an obvious candidate, with his speculative drawings about engineering projects, though Michelangelo (strangely not mentioned by Burke) was probably just as successful a polymath, achieving masterpieces of the first rank in painting, sculpture, architecture and poetry. Beyond a handful of freaks such as these, we find a lot of experts who dabbled in something else — and we are left trying to admire the paintings of Churchill and Strindberg or the novels of C.P. Snow. – The Spectator
Philadelphia’s Mayor Proposes To Eliminate City Arts Funding. Here’s Why That’s A Bad Idea
City of Philadelphia political leaders must recognize that arts, culture and the creative economy are a critical part of the City’s economy and quality of life and it is a “must have” function of government to support that sector. – The Art Blog
An Early Oscar Contender May Actually Have Been Helped By The Lockdown
Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always was never tipped to be a blockbuster. Her heavily realistic, light on the swelling music movie of two young women in search of at least temporary safety and medical care wasn’t meant to be a feel-good movie, either. But “Oscar buzz is now steadily building (buzz that was given a major boost thanks to the Academy’s decision to relax its anti-streaming rules for films whose cinema releases have been scuppered by the pandemic).” – The Guardian (UK)
Social Distancing At The Drive-In
The masked audience members lined up, 6 feet apart, at the concession stand. People were grilling. There was at least one birthday party going on. Then the movies began – and then the storms blew through. – The New York Times
Canadian Theatre Companies, Like All Of Their Colleagues Worldwide, Are Trying To Plan A Comeback
Basically, it’s tough to plan for anything. “What does our season look like if we start in January of 202? What if there is no theatre for a full season? … What if the government says theatres, sporting events, cinemas just cannot open until 2022? We need to prepare for the worst-case scenarios.” – CBC
What Are Exhibition Catalogues For?
Or maybe … exhibition catalogues are created for whom, exactly? “Most catalogues, however, no matter how good they may be, are fairly formulaic: introduction, essays, works shown, works described — that sort of thing. But some are not.” – Hyperallergic
Fred Willard, The Master Of Comic Cluelessness, Has Died At 86
His collaborations with Christopher Guest and Guest’s mockumentary ensemble were epic. “He played an Air Force colonel in This Is Spinal Tap (1984), then was travel agent/amateur actor Ron Albertson in Waiting for Guffman (1996); dunderheaded announcer Buck Laughlin in Best in Show (2000); Mike LaFontaine, blond-haired manager of the New Main Street Singers, in A Mighty Wind (2003); and smarmy newsmagazine host Chuck Porter (supposedly modeled on Billy Bush) in For Your Consideration (2006).” But that was far from all; his IMDb credit list runs to over 300 appearances, many of them as “self.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Director Lynn Shelton Has Died Of A Rare Blood Disease At 54
Shelton created and directed many small-scale, intimate indie films, funding those well-reviewed passion projects with tons of TV show work, including, recently, four episodes of Little Fires Everywhere. Her partner, the actor and podcaster Marc Maron, said, “Her spirit was pure joy. She made me happy. I made her happy. We were happy. I made her laugh all the time. We laughed a lot. We were starting a life together. I really can’t believe what is happening. This is a horrendous, sad loss.” – The New York Times